Image capture devices are known in the prior art for allowing diagnostic inspections to be performed, such as for surgical or other medical procedures with minimum human intervention. Such devices include video output for allowing real time images of a target of interest to be viewed. Examples of such devices used for medical purposes are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,755,873, and 4,651,202, among others, which allow the image to be continuously viewed on a video monitor. Similar devices, such as borescopes, are used for inspection of steam vessels, automotive engines, and other applications extending into the military, industrial and scientific fields.
In addition, bar code readers are also known for reading 1D and 2D bar code symbols, such as bar coded information in supermarkets, etc. A variety of different bar code symbols are now known, for the 1D bar code symbologies a number of them have been developed to allow the encoding of larger amounts of data, including Code 49, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,239, issued to Allais, and PDF 417, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,786, issued to Paviudus, et al. In these patents, stacked symbols partition the encoded data into multiple rows, each including a respective 1D bar code pattern, all or most of which must be scanned and decoded, then linked together to form a complete message. Two dimensional (2D) matrix symbologies, have also been developed which offer orientation-free scanning and greater data densities and capacities than their 1D counterparts. 2D matrix codes encode data as dark or light data elements within a regular polygonal matrix, accompanied by graphical finder, orientation and reference structures.
Bar code readers are known which discriminate between the different types of symbologies of each of the above 1D and 2D types. For example, optical readers capable of 1D autodiscrimination are well known in the art. An early example of such a reader is the SCANTEAM.TM. 3000, manufactured by Welch Allyn, Inc.
Optical readers which are capable of 1D/2D discrimination are less well known in the art, in that 2D symbologies are relatively new innovations. An example of a hand-held reader having such capability is described in copending, commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 08/504,643. A stationary 2D image sensor is described in copending, commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 08/516,185, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Most recently, a barcode reader which performs 1D/2D autodiscrimination of a target having multiple symbols is described in copending and commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 08/697,914, filed Sep. 3, 1996. The reader captures a field of view and autodiscriminates between the symbols within the captured field of view.
Typically, if a video image obtained with an image sensor and displayed onto a computer monitor contains bar-coded information, the following occurs: First, the image is captured into a named file saved by the computer, converted to disk or otherwise. The user then must separately load a bar code decoding program such as the 1D/2D program, described above, into the system and load the disk separately as a file for execution by the bar decoding program.
There are a number of problems with this approach. First, if the image is not properly resolved by the digital camera, or other imaging device, then the stored image can not be decoded properly. This means that the user must separately reaim the imaging device, download a new stored image, rename the file, reload the bar code decoding program, and reload the newly stored image as input into the decoding program. Several such iterations might be needed, with each iteration taking a considerable amount of time, and producing frustration and inconvenience for the user.
Furthermore, this situation exacerbates if a target of interest includes widely scattered symbols that are spaced by more than a single field of view, because multiple decoding operations would be required. As noted, each decoding operation would require a separate capture, loading and decoding sequence, as described above. Because of the time required to perform the capture and decoding steps as presently known, efficiency and practicality are each limited.